MemoryMaker is Back in the Water!
July 30th, 2005Monday night - August 1 - Carabelle, FL
We finally left Panama City about 1 p.m. We made it to Carrabelle - 94 miles from Panama City. Had a great trip. We were both so ready to leave Panama City. It’s a nice marina…lots of fishermen, cleaning lots of fish. MemoryMaker did really good. Water was calm for our trip - almost glassy; rain stopped after about an hour out; markers were easy to find. Traveled through mostly narrow waterways protected by land with the exception of a couple of bays (St. Andrews Bay, East Bay and Apalachicola Bay)…but even the wider bay waters were smooth. By the time we got to Apalachicola, the sun was out and we decided to just keep traveling.
Enjoyed a dip in the pool when we got here. Used the marina’s bikes to take a ride to the Riverview Restaurant, where we had an excellent fresh grouper dinner. Probably won’t have Internet access for a couple of days….but weather permitting we will cross to Steinhatchee tomorrow.
Monday, August 1st – Panama City, FL
Still here…now we are waiting for the low-pressure system off the coast to move. It keeps pumping up moisture, giving us a continual barrage of showers with thunder and lightening. Spent Saturday and Sunday…waiting. It was early evening both days before the heavy rains stopped. Today, Monday, the radar looks a little better. We are still hoping to go to Apalachicola later today…
Saturday, July 30th – Panama City, FL
After spending 5 nights away, we were both happy to get back on the boat yesterday. Really, really enjoyed spending some time with the family, but we were up and out of there very early on Friday. Panama City is about a 6 hour drive from the Cove. Paul’s Marine Service had the boat ready to be launched when we got over here. They ended up having to take the motor out in order to replace the transom housing…so it was a pretty major job to have been completed in the few days that we were away.
After putting MemoryMaker in the water, Dave drove it back to the marina and gassed it up. We then rode it around for a little while in the bay to check it out…all seemed ok. Did some last minute re-provisioning Friday night and turned in early. We will return the rental car this morning, wait for some thundershowers to pass, and then hopefully shove off for Apalachicola, which is about a 60-mile trip fairly short trip. That will give us a chance to make sure MemoryMaker is ready for the run across the Gulf.